


looking in your eyes (i can see forever)

by glowinghorizons



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 06:57:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6274345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowinghorizons/pseuds/glowinghorizons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I... I can’t... believe... this,” Clarke says through chattering teeth, and he would laugh if he didn’t think she would murder him. Because, well, she looks cute all wrapped up in a blanket. Like a burrito. A cold, angry, cute burrito.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I can’t control the weather, Clarke. Either we’re trapped in here or we probably would’ve gotten stuck in the storm out there.”</i>
</p><p> <i>“I’m so cold,” she says, pitifully, and Bellamy’s heart lurches in that annoying way it’s been doing lately, especially annoying since he wants so badly to be mad at her. Things were a lot easier when he was mad at her.</i></p><p>OR</p><p>Bellamy and Clarke are out on a scouting mission when a blizzard hits. They get trapped together in the bunker and are forced to confront several things about their relationship. Angst, with a touch of fluff towards the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	looking in your eyes (i can see forever)

**Author's Note:**

> I have been trying to write a long-ish AU for days and needed to get my creative juices flowing, so here’s a thing. I literally have no idea where this came from. Full disclosure: I am basically not paying attention to season 3. Assume everything after Bellamy’s attempt to rescue Clarke in Polis never happens.
> 
> This one is rated for language, because there’s not a universe where Bellamy doesn’t curse like a sailor, okay. Set sometime in the future. This fic is pretty dialogue heavy, so fair warning there. The lyrics I used for the title are from "End Of The World" by McFly.
> 
> Special thanks to Kayla for being my beta!

It’s not like Bellamy _means_ to get them trapped in the bunker, okay. It’s not his fault that it’s the middle of the goddamn winter and the door is frozen shut. It’s also not his fault that Clarke fell in that snow pile because -- _okay_ , he nudged her, sure, but in his defense, she went down like a sack of potatoes.

So naturally, he did what anyone would do -- he took her to the bunker because it was close, and she needed to get warm, or else she’d get hypothermia and also she’d yell at him.

“I... I can’t... believe... this,” Clarke says through chattering teeth, and he would laugh if he didn’t think she would murder him. Because, well, she looks _cute_ all wrapped up in a blanket. Like a burrito. A cold, angry, cute burrito.

“I can’t control the weather, Clarke. Either we’re trapped in here or we probably would’ve gotten stuck in the storm out there.”

“I’m so cold,” she says, pitifully, and Bellamy’s heart lurches in that annoying way it’s been doing lately, especially annoying since he wants so badly to be mad at her. Things were a lot easier when he was mad at her.

And it’s not like he... he resents her for being her and making him fall in love with her. But sometimes he remembers how long it took for her to finally come back to Arkadia, to _him,_ and he wants to punch something.

He was angry at her for so long, for those entire three months when she was gone, but the minute he saw her in that subway station tied up, bruised and battered and looking so _tired_ , he forgave her. He knew she was punishing herself enough. And yeah, it sucked, what she did. It sucked that she left and left him to deal with all his shit by himself, but there is a part of him that understands.

He would have been okay, if she would have come back with him after that. But then came Lexa, and the Summit, and that’s where it all went to shit. That’s when he realized that while he loved her, he was so angry at her. Loving her made it hard for him to hate her, and _that’s_ what he resented her for.

Now... now she’s been back for almost a year. Lexa was... well, they don’t talk about what happened to Lexa. However Bellamy still felt regarding Lexa... he hated her less when he thought about what happened to her. Shot by someone she trusted to keep her safe. Not a great way to go.

That was months ago, and now Clarke seems better. She’s still not the same person he remembers from when they first landed on the ground, but he knows that none of them are the same. They’ve been forced to change, and he knows that more than anyone.

Today was supposed to be nothing more than a simple scouting trip, but of course anything that could go wrong, did. First, they couldn’t find the borders of the particular sector they were supposed to be scouting. 

The markers were either destroyed in a storm, or in the wrong place. That was one thing to tack on the seemingly never-ending list of things to annoy Bellamy. Then, the storm set in. It came out of nowhere. They were supposed to have two days of clouds, but nothing in the way of snow, or at least that’s what they were able to tell from the Ark’s meteorology equipment before they left.

Clarke and Bellamy could barely see through the blizzard by the time they got to the bunker, and were so relieved to get out of the wind, that neither of them stopped to think that the cold and ice would freeze the fucking door shut.

“Here,” Bellamy says, jolting himself back to the present where he can still hear Clarke’s teeth chattering. He hands her a blanket that was tucked away in a corner, and lights one of the oil lamps.

When he can finally see, he looks back at her to see her struggling to wrap the blanket around her shoulders, so he takes two quick strides over to her and helps her. “Take your jacket off,” he says gently, and she nods, sliding the fabric off her shoulders.

He wraps her up and heads back over to the shelf in the corner of the room, trying to see if there’s any extra water or rations tucked away here from the last time someone spent the night here.

“There’s water in my pack,” Clarke says later, quietly, and he shoots her a grateful smile as he digs through her bag to find the water skeins, laughing when he notices she grabbed one for him too. “I can’t believe you pushed me into a snow pile,” she says a minute later, and he’s relieved to see a small smile on her face.

“I didn’t _push_ you. I _nudged_ you. With my elbow. It’s not my fault you’re getting lax on your training,” he huffs, scowling.

“You’re so serious all the time.” She says, and it makes him want to laugh because she’s really one to talk about being serious.

“Yeah, well.” He says instead, lamely, because he’s still not really sure how to do this anymore. He’s not sure how to joke with her or make small talk because while they’ve been leading together again for a while now, it’s still not the same as it was at the dropship.

They’re both quiet for a little while longer until Clarke moves to come sit near him, offering him one corner of the blanket she’s still wrapped in. He accepts it gratefully, pulling himself closer to her until their shoulders are touching and their sides are flush together.

“I’m sorry for getting us stuck here. I know this is... probably the last place you want to be,” Bellamy says, wincing at how clumsy the words sound coming out of his mouth.

She shrugs. “Not your fault.”

Quiet, again.

“How are you...” he starts to ask, but trails off. _How are you doing_ feels like a dumb question. They never used to be like this. Like... like they didn’t even know how to talk to each other.

Even though they’ve hashed things out somewhat, there’s still a weird undercurrent to every conversation they have where he knows they’re both replaying the things he shouted at her in anger when she first came back, the things she said back to him, and all the things they left unsaid between them.

There’s still tension between them that never used to exist before. Bellamy knows deep down that it’s a lack of trust. On his part, he’s tired of feeling like every minute that she’s out of his sight is one minute closer to her leaving again.

He can tell she’s tired of it too, but old habits are hard to break, and Clarke has walked away from him one too many times for him to be comfortable when she does it in ordinary circumstances, never mind if he were to talk to her about something serious. He doesn’t want to scare her off, or be the thing that pushes her into leaving for an extended period again. He’s not sure if he could handle it another time.

“Bellamy, I swear, if you ask me how I’m doing one more time, I’m going to castrate you.”

The familiar biting tone in her voice makes him laugh, a real, real laugh that he feels all the way through his bones. He hasn’t laughed like this in ages. He hasn’t seen her smile like this in ages either.

“I’m doing okay,” she tells him, scooting a little closer. He can feel the body heat radiating off her in waves, which is a relief, because he really thought she was going to freeze solid for a minute there. “I didn’t plan on getting stranded here, but other than that I’m fine.”

“I’m good too, if you were wondering,” he says flippantly. “Lincoln’s been teaching me how to fight. I think.” he says, “That, or he’s just been looking for an excuse to kick my ass.”

Clarke scoots even closer, so he has no choice but to lift his arm and put it around her shoulders. At least, that’s what he’s going to tell himself. “I’m surprised Octavia hasn’t been helping you train. She’s more inclined to kick your ass then Lincoln.” She grins at him, a wry thing that he savors, tucks away in the corners of his mind. 

“Are you warm enough?” He asks her, and she nods.

“Getting there.”

“I think we should split from Arkadia,” Bellamy blurts, and he thinks Clarke pulls a muscle in her neck from how fast she twists to look at him. “Hear me out--”

“I can’t _believe_ \--”

“Clarke, they might act like you and I are important, but we’re not. They barely even let us have a say in the goddamn council meetings.”

“They let us take down the Mountain--”

“Because you _told_ them you were in charge,” he counters, smirking when she blushes. “Yeah, I heard about that.”

“How would we even do it? Where would we go?”

He pulls her closer unconsciously, and quickly becomes aware of every place where their skin is touching. “I just... I can’t stay there anymore, Clarke. I can’t... every single day we stay there, my sister is one day closer to packing up and leaving. Every day I wonder why I’m not packing up and going with her.”

Clarke is quiet, and it makes him nervous. He never meant to bring this up this soon, and _yes_ , he _was_ planning on bringing it up, no matter what his sister says. He and some of the others have been having conversations about splitting from the Arkers off and on whenever they could get away and have some time for themselves, but no one really knew how to ask Clarke about it.

“Were you going to ask me?” She asks him as if she’s reading his mind, her voice small. 

“What?” he splutters, “Of course I was.”

“Are you sure? You haven’t been happy with me lately. I wouldn’t blame you if you--”

“Stop.” He says forcefully. Then again, softer, “Stop. I wouldn’t-- I’m not going to go anywhere without you.” He doesn’t like the tension suddenly filling the small space they’re in, so he smirks at her, “Besides, if I wanted to leave you somewhere, I could have locked you in this bunker.”

A small smile crosses her face, so Bellamy counts that one as a win, and stands up to try and find a way out. He figures there’s at least a couple inches of snow on top of the bunker door at this point, so trying to force it open from the inside while it’s still storming would probably be a dumb idea. 

“Can you sit down? You’re making me anxious,” Clarke scolds, and he realizes he’s been pacing. “After a while, someone will realize we’re gone and come looking for us. This is one of the places they’ll look,” she says confidently. 

After some arguing, he finally does as she asks, and they must both fall asleep, because when he wakes up, he’s _sweating_ and it’s not the best feeling, okay. Yes, he’s warm, but at what cost? And yes, he has a soft spot for Clarke Griffin, but not enough to _not_ be embarrassed when he sweats all over her while she’s sleeping.

He tries to extricate himself without waking her but doesn’t do a very good job, because he’s barely moved and she rolls over, cracking open one eye to glare at him. 

“Cold,” she says, her voice hoarse like he’s heard it so many times in the morning, and he sighs. 

He settles back down next to her. “You’re a fucking furnace. How are you still cold?” His mind whirs as he thinks about all the things that could go wrong when they’re stuck in the cold for hours like they have been and it must show on his face, because she pats his arm in a comforting manner.

“My _feet_ are cold. Yours were keeping mine warm.”

Bellamy Blake does _not_ blush. He just... he’s overheated. That’s all. Nevertheless, he sits back down next to Clarke and tries not to short circuit when she pulls him closer right away. They’ve been treading on the edge of... _something_ for a long time, and he’s not really sure what to do about it. He knows that neither he nor Clarke are in any shape to give themselves to anyone else, but sometimes he looks at her, and he just... he _wants_. 

He’s wanted Clarke for a long time. Since before the Mountain, even. That’s not a new development. What’s new is the fact that Clarke seems to be thinking along the same lines, if he’s reading her right. 

Trying to lighten the mood, he squeezes her shoulder, “So. Your plan is just to hang out here until someone comes to get us? We could be waiting a long time.”

“Great. We can catch up.”

Bellamy snorts. “On what? We practically live together. You know everything there is.”

“I’m going to remember that the next time you tell me I don’t know anything,” Clarke jokes, yawning. 

Bellamy pinches her lightly, his back bowing out of the way as she tries to do the same back to him. He grins as he thinks about how _easy_ things seem right now. All it took was them almost dying in a snowstorm to get back to this place. Who would’ve thought?

.

.

_3 hours later_

“There’s a leak,” Clarke observes from where she’s standing next to the ladder leading from the hatch to the floor, peering up at the ceiling. “Hopefully that means the snow is melting.”

“Hm,” Bellamy murmurs, noncommittally as he tries to finish reading another chapter in the book he brought with him, tucked away safely in his pack. 

“Are you listening?” She demands, and when he looks up, he can’t help but laugh at her, all wrapped up in a blanket, wearing it like a cape, glaring at him from across the room.

“Of course, dear.” 

“Very funny. I’m serious. Sometimes I feel like you can barely stand to be in the same room as me, let alone listen to what I’m saying.”

Bellamy resists the urge to groan as he sets down his book, because _this again_? Things were going so well. He should have known the other shoe would drop the longer they were trapped in here together. “I listen to you.”

“You also tend to leave the room whenever I enter it,” she mumbles pointedly.

“Clarke--”

“Forget it. Forget I said anything.”

“No.” Bellamy stands. “No, we clearly need to have this conversation if it’s bothering you so much.”

Clarke looks affronted. “ _Bothering_ me? Sorry that me trying to fix our friendship is a _bother_!”

“Jesus Christ, Clarke, that’s not what I meant.” Bellamy says, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I just meant that you obviously need to get something off of your chest. You might as well do it now. It’s not like we have anything else better to do.”

Clarke just glares at him, so Bellamy shrugs, and turns back to his book, reaching for it, when suddenly it’s smacked out of his hands. He whirls around and is met with Clarke’s furious expression. 

“Are you seriously going to _read_ right now?!”

Bellamy gapes at her. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” At soon as the words come out of his mouth he winces, because _no_ , that was not the right thing to say. He just feels like he’s walking on eggshells all the time around Clarke, because while they’re okay for the most part, there’s still something there, simmering under the surface that has him on edge. He wonders dimly if this is the moment where it all comes to a head.

“No, I don’t think I’m _overreacting_ ,” she hisses. “I think that you’re hiding things from me. I thought things were finally getting better, but apparently since we can’t even have a simple conversation, they’re not!”

“What are you _talking_ about?” Bellamy exclaims, frustrated.

Clarke reaches into the pocket of her jacket and pulls out a folded piece of paper and Bellamy’s heart sinks when he recognizes his loopy scrawl on it. “You dropped this the other day. I meant to give it back to you, but I forgot.”

“You read it.” 

“Of course I read it! You know… earlier, I asked you if you were ever going to tell me about splitting from Arkadia, and you claimed you were going to tell me--”

“I _was_ going to tell you. I just had to figure out how.”

“You were just going to leave me behind,” Clarke continues, without letting him finish. “You had blueprints and boundaries outlined already…”

“It was never the right time. I had to get everything in place--”

“You had to confer with the others and figure out if they wanted me to even come in the first place.” Clarke’s face crumples with hurt, and Bellamy feels his hands starts to shake, because _no_ , this is not how this is supposed to go. 

“Clarke--”

“I just want to know _why_ , Bellamy. I mean-- I know I hurt you. _God_ , I will never forgive myself for what I did to everyone by leaving and being scared. I know I still have a long way to go to completely earn your trust, but I thought we were better than this. I thought--” she shakes her head. “I just want to know why.”

“You want to know why?” Bellamy asks, feeling his patience wear thin. “Okay. Fine. I have to leave the room when you come in because sometimes all I see when I look at you is you, walking away from me. You, leaving me to deal with all the shit that happened in the Mountain by myself. You, choosing to stay with _Lexa_ over your own fucking people. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? That’s why I was having trouble figuring out how we were going to create a camp together again. Because, Clarke, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to lead with you anymore.”

Clarke is silent, but he can see the fire still in her eyes as she glares at him, so he continues.

“Sometimes I have to get away for a little bit because sometimes I-- sometimes I just get so fucking _mad_ at you, Clarke, that I don’t trust myself to keep it quiet. I don’t want to ruin anything, so I leave, and I keep it all bottled up, because I know that if I tell you what I’m thinking, you’ll hate me. I didn’t want to bring you with us to a new place for a fresh start and just find out that you’re planning to leave all over again.”

Bellamy is breathing hard after his confession, and when he looks up, he feels like he can’t breathe all over again, because Clarke is _weeping_. He’s seen her cry before. He’s seen her shed a tear because of stress, or exhaustion, but this-- this is _hard_. 

“Clarke-- _shit_ , Clarke, I didn’t--”

“No!” She says shakily, holding up a hand. “No, I-- I deserve that. I deserve everything you said. I just… I’m so sorry I hurt you so much.”

Bellamy can’t take it anymore. He’s still angry, but he crosses the room in four quick strides and takes her into his arms. He’s met with little resistance, and cradles the back of Clarke’s head carefully, like she’s something precious, which she _is_ , and he wants to make sure she knows it. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I shouldn’t have yelled. I just-- I hate the way things are between us right now, Clarke, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“It’s okay,” she says, but she lets out a little hiccup that lets him know she’s still crying, and he can’t stand it.

“Look at me,” he says gruffly, pulling away from her. “Even when I’m mad at you, I never want you to feel like you’ve lost me, okay? Because we’ve done that before, and I gotta be honest with you, it fucking sucks.”

Clarke lets out a little laugh, so he counts that as a small victory. “I’m never going to be able to change what I did-- what I did to hurt you, but I want to try.”

Bellamy pulls her down until they’re both sitting. “I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have brought up everything again. It’s in the past. We can’t change it.”

“You were right though,” Clarke says, a sad smile on her face. “I ran away. I left you alone, and then when you found me, I couldn’t-- I couldn’t take it. I didn’t want you to look at me like you did when you found me, like I was--”

“Clarke--” he tries to stop her, because he knows where this is going, and he knows she thinks she doesn’t deserve to be saved, and he doesn’t know how to tell her that he’d save her anytime, any place, if he could.

“Let me finish.” Her tone is gentle, not angry. “I couldn’t take seeing you again after all those months, because I didn’t think I deserved to be rescued. Not by you. I hurt you so much, and you still came after me.” She gives him a watery smile, and it breaks his heart. “So, I deserve it. I deserve all that anger you have bottled up. It just-- I expected it, but I didn’t think it would hurt so much.”

“Can I talk now?” He huffs impatiently, and she lets out a small laugh. 

“Fine.”

“I said what I was feeling earlier; I don’t need to repeat it. But you have to understand that I’ve forgiven you, okay? Not just because we were at war with the Ice Nation. Not just because I want to break away from Arkadia. I forgave you because you’re _Clarke_.” He feels his chest tighten with some unnamed emotion as her eyes meet his, all wide and watery with tears. “I forgave you because you would have done the same thing for me.”

“ _Bellamy_ \--” Clarke says, her tone almost pleading, and then she’s reaching for him, tugging him closer by the arms until they’re embracing again, pressed so tightly together that he’s not sure where he ends and she begins. 

“I still don’t forgive you for getting us trapped in here, though.” She says a while later, and Bellamy can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of his chest.

.

.

_3 hours later_

They must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing Bellamy knows, he’s being jolted awake as a loud pounding reverberates through the bunker, causing Clarke to bolt upright, her hand clenching around a knife that isn’t there.

“We’ve got company,” Bellamy mutters, and even though he knows they don’t have many enemies in this part of the world anymore, he’s still wary. He grabs his gun from his pack and holds it steady as the hatch bursts open, and a familiar pair tumbles through the entrance, almost falling on their faces.

“I told you we should’ve just opened it,” Jasper mutters, before registering Bellamy and Clarke standing there. 

“You guys are pretty bad at covering up your tracks,” Monty says, and Bellamy grins sarcastically.

“Didn’t really think to do it when we were trying not to die in a fucking blizzard. Now are we going to get out of here, or what?”

“Your chariot awaits,” Jasper says, helping Clarke up from her spot on the floor. Three months ago, that never would have happened, and Bellamy takes a moment to appreciate the sight before he follows everyone out of the bunker and into the jeep that’s waiting for them.

.

.

.

Things get better after that. Clarke finally takes it to heart that other people have forgiven her, that they still care about her, that they still _love_ her, and it makes it easier. 

Clarke comes to the next meeting that Bellamy sets up with Miller, Raven, Octavia, Lincoln, Harper, Jasper and Monty where they talk about plans to secede from Arkadia. 

“We have to make sure everything is in place before we breathe one word of this to the council,” Bellamy warns. “Talking like this without permission would have been treason on the Ark, and there’s no reason for us to treat it differently now.”

“You think they’d arrest us?” Harper asks, her guard’s jacket glinting in the light, along with Bellamy, Miller and Monty’s. 

“I have no fucking idea what they might do, anymore.” Bellamy says honestly. He and Kane are on good terms, but Abby still hasn’t forgiven him for letting Clarke walk away after the Mountain, and if she knew that her daughter was trying to leave again, she’d blame Bellamy no matter how directly he was affecting Clarke’s decisions.

(And it’s silly, he thinks, for anyone to think that Bellamy Blake could possibly make Clarke Griffin do anything she didn’t want to do, but. He thinks Abby doesn’t know her daughter as well as she should.)

A month later, they bring maps, a treaty, and forty-seven signed contracts to the council meeting. Bellamy tries to hide how nervous he is, but it must show on his face, because Clarke discreetly slips her hand into his as she stands slightly behind him in front of the council. 

_“This is your project,” she tells him as they start to put the final touches on the treaty he’s drawn up. “You don’t need me to take point on this.”_

_“I want you there,” he says, meeting her eyes. “I’m tired of doing things by myself.”_

_“You won’t be by yourself,” she says, echoing her words from what feels like years prior. “I’ll go with you, but you’re the one they need to hear from. Not me.”_

After he says his piece, they both leave the chambers, not wanting to see the reactions of the council members. Bellamy is too afraid that they’re all going to get arrested, and half expects guards to come after them any second, but as the minutes tick by, he thinks this might actually work.

“You did good in there,” Clarke says, as they pace around the inside of his tent. “They’ll understand why we want to do this. They have to.”

Bellamy looks at her, her eyes so full of confidence and pride in what he’s doing, he almost can’t stand it. 

“I’m sorry I kept it from you.” He tells her. They’ve moved past this, but he needs her to know that he doesn’t want to keep anything secret between them anymore. “I didn’t mean to-- to lie to you, or hide things.”

“I know,” Clarke reassures him gently. “I just-- I already felt a little isolated and it hurt that you might have been trying to exclude me. But I get it now-- and I understand that you were hurt, too.”

“Clarke--” Bellamy starts, but is interrupted when the flap to his tent opens up, and Kane comes in, looking in between them warily.

“Clarke. Bellamy.” 

“Sir--”

“I have to say, what you did in there was pretty brash.”

“We’re just trying--” 

Kane holds up his hand to cut off Clarke’s words. “I’m not here to chastise you. I wanted to tell you the council has approved your request.” 

Bellamy feels the world stop when the words sink in. This is… this is more than he ever expected.

“We’re going to let you live on your own, but you’re still going to be considered Sky People. You don’t have to secede to have independence. You’ll be your own settlement, with your own leaders. We will trade and provide resources to you whenever we can, and expect you to do the same. We also expect that if the time ever comes for one of us to go up against an enemy, the other will be there for support.”

Clarke looks as speechless as Bellamy feels. He sees it the moment the happiness starts to form in her eyes, and can’t help the grin that stretches across his face as he allows himself _for once_ to bask in the moment and be happy.

“Don’t make me regret vouching for you,” Kane says pointedly to Bellamy, but there’s a small smile on his face as he holds out his hand for Bellamy to shake.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Bellamy says, and then Kane is gone, leaving Clarke and Bellamy to wonder if this was all real.

“We did it.” Clarke says, a little breathlessly. She turns to face Bellamy, her smile stretching across her entire face, bigger than he’s ever seen it since they first landed on the ground. “We did it.”

Bellamy laughs, and they’re colliding together, the force of Bellamy’s embrace lifting Clarke right off the ground as he spins her in a circle, huffing a laugh out into her hair. When he sets her back down on the ground, he blames the adrenaline and happiness coursing through his veins for his thought of _fuck it_ as he leans forward and presses his lips to hers.

He’s tired of holding back, tired of hiding from her, and he thinks she might feel the same way if the enthusiasm with which she responds to his kiss is anything to go by. He’s not able to hold back his sigh of satisfaction when one of her hands makes its way into his hair and tugs lightly at the curls at the base of his neck, and he can’t help the groan that leaves his mouth when she steps even closer to him so her curves press up against every one of his hard lines.

Clarke makes this noise against his mouth that has him losing the remaining vestiges of his control, and one of his his pent up emotion seems to be pouring out of him all at once, and he can hardly stand it when her nails scratch down his back through his t-shirt and as her other hand laces the fingers of their free hands together. 

They break apart eventually, when they need to breathe, and _god_ , Bellamy thinks if he can see this look on Clarke’s face for the rest of his life, everything they’ve been through together will have been worth it. 

“Wow,” Clarke breathes, and he laughs, unable to control his response to seeing her flushed and out of breath _because of him_. “Don’t laugh at me,” she says, but she’s smiling too.

“I would never.”

She pulls him down for one more chaste kiss, probably to shut him up, and when they break apart, they both sigh. 

“We should go tell everyone about the treaty.” Bellamy says reluctantly, not wanting to leave this intimate little bubble they’ve created for themselves in his tent. 

“Meet you back in here in a half hour?” Clarke asks, and _fuck_ but Bellamy is really in love with this girl. 

“You got it.” Bellamy promises, and as he watches her go, he realizes that no matter what happened between them in the past, he thinks they were always heading towards this. Towards each other. 

They both have to work at trusting each other, at finding ways to stop hurting each other, and he thinks finally allowing themselves to be happy (both alone, and with each other) is a pretty damn good first step. 

.

.

When they move closer to the sea two months later, Clarke moves her things unceremoniously into Bellamy’s tent, raising an eyebrow at him like she’s expecting him to protest.

He kisses her instead, and takes a deep breath of the slightly salty, cool air when they break apart.

“We can do this, can’t we?” She murmurs, and he’s already nodding before she finishes her sentence.

“Of course we can. Together,” he adds, nudging her lightly.

She rolls her eyes good-naturedly, but smiles at him, agreeing. “Together.”

**end**


End file.
